We've already rolled out Windows XP SP2 (no hope of going to Vista or Windows 7 in the foreseeable future unfortunately) across the enterprise and our latest internal roll-out actually incorporates SP3 as well - but unfortunately IE is explicitly being kept at version 6.

Regardless of the numerous security warnings our there and lack of applicability in the greater world wide web, my manager still sees intranet apps written for IE6 as the main reason to stay on it. What can we do to swing the vote in our favour? We're tired of supporting an ailing browser when users call us up constantly complaining that website don't look right, and more and more people asking for browser tabs "because that's what they've got at home".

I'm curious if the answers here helped you. If your IT manager still can't see the forest for the trees, I think you should follow whatever policy procedures your entity has towards finding a resolution for this disagreement.
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l0c0b0xJun 6 '09 at 3:51

Except he can't do this properly without calculating how much money it will cost to upgrade the internal intranet applications to be IE7/IE8 compatible. You can't produce an ROI without calculating everything!
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blowdartApr 30 '09 at 10:00

True, you can't produce an ROI without calculating everything. But for a manager who still insists in IE6, you aren't going to convince him without an ROI.
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Yaakov EllisApr 30 '09 at 10:22

1

A manager this out of touch, insisting on legacy web browsers... I would just quit.
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ninegridMay 6 '09 at 14:18

This is a tricky thing that i have tried to fight but i haven't had much luck in the past.

The two options i see is to either convince management that IE6 is a large security risk to the network (as it is) and that if anything the intranet apps need to be updated to avoid the risk of the entire network becoming open to attack or convince them to allow something like Firefox or chrome for browing online but restrict IE6 to local browsing for the intranet apps.

Hiring an intern to update the intranet apps should be probably less costly than doing extensive cleanup of the network due to a security breach, because of using an insecure and standards-ignorant browser both for intranet and internet.

"IE6 is a legacy system, only on extended support from Microsoft. Microsoft was recently pushed IE8 through as a Critital Patch on Windows Update and will only publish future patches for IE6 for the most serious issues"

"If we continue to allow IE6 users to connect to the Internet then we are increasing our risk of malware infection."

"It is better to 'keep up' with the upgrades and patches as they come out, than to stagnate and be left with a HUGE upgrade in the future that will be MUCH more expensive (in time, effort and cost)"

I've followed this line of "attack" when proposing we move the remainder of our user population off IE6 and onto IE7, we're a third of the way there, but still they bring forward arguments suggesting potential issues with apps etc. Despite the latest hole found in IE6 they still balk at the idea of upgrading/updating to something closer to current.
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MitchFeb 5 '10 at 16:24